Activists Urge MPs: Don’t Vote Yet on UAE Tourism Deal
Protesters gathered in front of the Montenegrin Parliament today with one message for MPs: Don’t vote yet on the proposed agreement with the UAE on tourism and real estate development.
Jovana Janjušević, director of the Center for the Protection and Study of Birds, spoke at the protest organized by the initiative “Big Beach or Big Lie.” She called on Parliament to wait for the opinions of the European Commission, the Competition Protection Agency, and the Anticorruption Agency before making any decisions.
“This is about more than Big Beach. This is about Montenegro’s sovereignty,” Janjušević said. She warned that the deal would give any investor from the UAE special treatment under Montenegrin law.
She reminded everyone that Big Beach is one of the most valuable ecosystems on our coast and once Montenegro joins the EU, it’s expected to become a Natura 2000 protected area. The nearby Ulcinj Salina is also crucial for closing EU negotiations in Chapter 27 (Environment), she added.
“We call ourselves an ecological state in our Constitution, but it’s just words unless we act like one,” she said. “This agreement is illegal it offers no investor responsibility, no oversight.”
The protest was backed by a wide coalition of NGOs and civic groups under the campaign “Big Beach or Big Lie,” including CZIP, CIN-CG, MANS, Green Home, and many more. Local activist Zenepa Lika said they’ve been ignored by the government for a month and that recent beach tenders revealed the real plans of PM Milojko Spajić and investor Mohamed Alabar: massive concrete development, with no input from the local community.
“This is our land too. Ulcinj asked to be respected, but the government ignored us. The Constitution doesn’t allow that. This law is against the law, and the people of Ulcinj say no to taking Big Beach away from us,” Lika said.
It’s hard not to feel uneasy watching all of this unfold. On paper, massive investments sound like a dream especially in a region that could benefit from economic growth. But when deals are rushed, unclear, and shut out the local community, it raises a lot of red flags. It’s not just about one beach or one law it’s about how much we value transparency, nature, and the people who actually live in these places. If we start trading away priceless ecosystems and public land without a real plan or public say, what does that say about where we’re headed as a country?
Written by our correspondent A.A.
